A few things before the green light

[bjlasota]

I’m just getting ready to brew my first batch of beer using the equipment I received for Christmas. As a new brewer, I’ve done quite a bit of research but still have a couple lingering questions. These may be dumb and I might already know the answer, I just want to make sure I have everything correct.
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First, do I need to use a muslin bag for pellet hops or can they be added directly to the wort?
Second, I currently own a 3 gallon stock pot for canning and I’ve read that it’s ok to use those. Is this true?
Third, I’ll be boiling my wort and hops together in the pot I currently have which only holds 3 gallons. I’ll probably be boiling 2.5 gallons of wort. I will also have 2.5 gallons of water in the fermenting pail to mix with the wort. *My question is do I need to add water to equal up to 5 gallons or does it not matter what was boiled off? *Lets say my wort originally started out at 2.5 gallons but about .5 gallons of h2o boiled off, leaving a total of only 4.5 gallons in my fermenter. Do I need to add an extra .5 gallons to make 5 total or is losing a half gallon part of the recipes?
Next, I plan on cooling my wort in an ice bath in my kitchen sink. Would you advise for or against for freezing water bottles and placing them in the wort to speed up the cooling, or if just ice and water around the pot is sufficient? I’ve also read that you can freeze water in a sanitized, sealed Tupperware dish and add the Ice chunk directly to the wort to speed it up. Any advice in this cooling matter would help a lot.
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Thanks in advance. I realize this may be in the wrong area, but I figured I’d get a bundle of questions out of the way before and post specific questions in their proper places as I come to them.

 

[brewdogskip]

First, congrats and welcome to the best hobby known to man!

- Just toss the hops into the kettle

-Your stock pot sounds like what I started with. What kind of material is it made out of? Enamel, Stainless, Aluminum?

-Boil as much as you can with your kettle, fill in fermenter to 5 gallons.

-A simple ice bath in your sink should do just fine for getting temps under 100*F. Remember, when you pour wort in your fermenter and mix with the extra water it will chill it significantly.

Also, have fun!

 

[ongreystreet]

I just did a small boil brew (2.5 gallons starting). I am not even sure if it took a whole hour to cool with ice, some salt, and a few refills of cold tap water, may have been closer to 40 minutes.

I put hop pellets right in, was a pain to strain, but it was okay.

 

[Conan4480]

not trying to hijack the thread, but I bought a nylon mesh bag from my LHBS for the hops. Is this useful fro pellet hops or was it a wasted expense?

 

[bjlasota]

I'm pretty sure it's enamel. It's a graniteware pot. Internet says it porcelain wrapped steel. It's one of the pots you see at walmart with the speckles on the side.

 

[DrawTap88]

bj, your pot is fine as long as it doesn't have any cracks in it (enamel will flake off into your beer).

Conan, the mesh bag is fine for your hops. That'll make it easier to strain the wort.

 

[mightynintendo]

1.) It's fine to throw them in without the bag. The residue will settle to the bottom of your fermentation vessel along with your yeast cake. When you rack off the yeast cake for bottling or kegging, you should be leaving most of that stuff behind.

2.) That is OK (for now). You will find as you continue to brew that you will want a bigger pot. Just be sure you have enough room in the pot for the thick bubbles that will form in the beginning of your boil.

3.) You probably do need enough water to equal 5 gallons in the end for the original gravity to be correct. If it isn't explicitly stated in the recipe then I would advise topping off until you reach 5 gallons.

4.) Water bottles aren't going to help you any in an ice bath. The ice bath is good, just keep the wort and ice bath moving GENTLY. You don't want to aerate the wort while it's cooling.

 

[Slider46]

I’m just getting ready to brew my first batch of beer using the equipment I received for Christmas. As a new brewer, I’ve done quite a bit of research but still have a couple lingering questions. These may be dumb and I might already know the answer, I just want to make sure I have everything correct.
*
First, do I need to use a muslin bag for pellet hops or can they be added directly to the wort?...

I would suggest one but don't worry too much about it. You'll just have to strain the hops or let them settle.

not trying to hijack the thread, but I bought a nylon mesh bag from my LHBS for the hops. Is this useful fro pellet hops or was it a wasted expense?

Very useful and a good investment. You can wash and re-use them. However, I can bet you could get a pack of nylon paint strainer bags at Home Depot / Lowes for cheaper. Its the same thing - just wash/sanitize before using. (Probably find them near the paint sprayers)

I'm pretty sure it's enamel. It's a graniteware pot. Internet says it porcelain wrapped steel. It's one of the pots you see at walmart with the speckles on the side.

I use the exact same type of pot - from Walmart. I have the 12-quart model - I only do 2.5 Gallon batches. Works just fine.

 

[bjlasota]

This might be a dumb questions, but I have a 3 piece airlock. I simulated with water by filling my fermenter with water and then installing the airlock. I put the small plastic disk cap onto the airlock, and pressed gently on the sealed lid to simulate gas buildup and the airlock just empties its water into the fermenter. Will something be different when there's actual wort in there or should I not be putting the small plastic cover on the airlock?

Just looked closer and I see little holes in the cap. I guess I'll just put the cap on and see what happens. In the event my water is dissapearing, where's it going and is it normal that I would have to keep adding water to the airlock?

 

[earwig]

This might be a dumb questions, but I have a 3 piece airlock. I simulated with water by filling my fermenter with water and then installing the airlock. I put the small plastic disk cap onto the airlock, and pressed gently on the sealed lid to simulate gas buildup and the airlock just empties its water into the fermenter. Will something be different when there's actual wort in there or should I not be putting the small plastic cover on the airlock?

Just looked closer and I see little holes in the cap. I guess I'll just put the cap on and see what happens. In the event my water is dissapearing, where's it going and is it normal that I would have to keep adding water to the airlock?

Use StarSan or whatever sanitizer you are using to sanitize your equipment in the airlock. Some people also use vodka or some other hard alcohol.

 

[earwig]

As for the water emptying... you probably pushed too hard.

 

[bjlasota]

Checked my bucket this morning and the small lid to the airlock blew off. It seems the airlock is too full of water. How can I safely get the water out to a good height? The little piece I would consider the plunger has to rise higher and seems to be the reason the lid pops off.

 

[mightynintendo]

Did you put steaming hot water in the bucket or something? Just fill your airlock to the "max" line.

 

[bjlasota]

I'm announcing my retirement from brewing after my first day. The anticipation to try my first beer is driving me crazy. What's everyone suggest? Ferment 21 days then bottle another 21 days? My brew is a red ale.

 

[earwig]

Average for most of my brews is 21 in primary, 14-21 in the bottle. Don't retire, the anticipation will lessen with each batch. Once you have a nice stockpile of home brew it becomes easier as well.

 

[bjlasota]

The retiring was just a joke. I want to make a stockpile now!

 

[bjlasota]

I may just begetting paranoid, but my brew has been done fermenting for a week now. I'm supposed to still leave it in the fermenter for 21 days right? What about my sg? Is it possible I'll pass the final sg recommended by my recipe or will I be ok?

 

[NyPDFustercluck]

Once you get to your FG you should be all set to bottle, also if your FG is unknown, take gravity readings daily, and once it stops dropping for three days you should be fine to bottle. I understand the anticipation (who hasnt rushed their first batch?) but I've found that the longer you leave your beer in the primary, the clearer and better the finished product is. Doing this gives the yeast time clean up after themselves and allows everything in suspension to drop down to the bottom.

 

[bjlasota]

How can I take readings without contaminating? I have a dummy bottle with enough to take a reading from. Should I be takin the readings from the fermenter? How can I do it safely? If the sg is showing I'm ready to bottle, will there be any harm leaving it sit for 1.5 more weeks?

 

[NyPDFustercluck]

when I'm checking the SG of a batch that's in the primary I use a sterilized basting syringe (you could use a turkey baster also) to draw off just enough wort to fill my dummy bottle. As long as you're careful about sanitization you shouldnt have any problems. Also as the wort begins turning into beer (with alcohol) your chances of developing an infection go way down. Also there is no harm at all in leaving the beer alone in the primary, especially for that ammount of time (I've had a barleywine bulk ageing in the carboy for almost two months)

 

[krazydave]

I used a turkey baster myself, just make sure it's sanitized well.
Nowdays I use a refractometer (and some calculations once it's begun fermenting), so I only need a few drops to test the SG. For that I'll use a small sanitized pipette. Or if it's in a carboy that I can't reach the top of the wort on, I just use a piece of small tubing to reach and once dipped I hold my thumb over the end to pull the wort out.

Whatever you do, don't pour your sample back into your fermenter.